Refer a client to Alana House for support
If you are a professional working with a woman who you believe will benefit from support from Alana House, please read through the information on this page and then click ‘Begin referral’. You will be directed to our online referral form.
Overview of services at Alana House
Alana House in Reading is an inclusive and non-judgemental space for women with complex needs and facing vulnerabilities. The project meets women at their point of need, providing support to enable them to address particular behaviours and assess life circumstances that may have put them in a vulnerable position or at risk of offending.
Support and information is provided in line with nine areas of need. We also run regular groups and courses for service users who have been referred to Alana House.
The support we offer through our general service includes:
- One-to-one support with a dedicated support worker, using a holistic, trauma-informed approach
- Focused group work on topics such as job skills, parenting, healing from trauma and moving onto independent living
- Referrals to counselling service held at Alana House
- Community café with opportunity for skill development, training and volunteering
- Focused sessions by other professionals during some cafés e.g. sexual health information, employability information etc.
- Access to other services through partnerships with specialist agencies
- Practical help e.g. use of washing machine, shower, computers, emergency food parcels
- Crèche facilities for some courses and groups
✓ Alana House support is most suitable for those who:
- have complex and multiple needs
- have past trauma and would benefit from a trauma informed approach
- have a history of offending, or who are at risk of offending/ reoffending
- wish to make positive change and to identify and work towards goals
- are able to attend in person as well as currently engage by phone/zoom
- struggle to engage with other professionals and services
- will benefit from a ‘one stop shop’ approach – accessing several agencies/partners at Alana House
- could benefit from support with attending some external meetings e.g. meetings at school or Frontline
- are able to attend with limited child care requirements
- want to learn new transferable skills related to volunteering or employment through the Community Café
- would benefit from and/or are open to developing skills/confidence to attend groups/courses
✕ Alana House support is less suitable for those who:
- present with a single need requiring specialist support services such as substance use/mental health/domestic abuse
- are referred only for access to Alana House counselling
- attend only to comply with other professionals’ requirement they attend
- are being closed by another agency but would benefit from general social interaction/support (not a Community Centre)
- are planning to move out of Reading in the near future
All groups, courses and sessions are available by appointment only to those who have been referred to Alana House. To refer a client or someone you work with, please click below to fill our online referral form or call us on 0118 921 7640.
Please note: Google has made changes which are preventing some emails being received by Gmail accounts and incorrectly marking them as spam. If you or the client you are referring provide a Gmail address as a means of being contacted by our team, please check your spam or junk folder for messages from our team and advise your client to do the same. You and/or the client can also set up a filter to always allow emails from our domain. Instructions on how to do this are further down this page.
We are unable to proceed with referrals if a contact number or an email address is not provided for the referred person.
Set up a Gmail filter to always allow emails from our team
To prevent messages from our team going to your spam or junk folders, take the following steps:
- Open Gmail on your phone or computer
- In the search box, click the filter icon on the right of the box to show search options
- In the ‘From’ field, enter pactcharity.org
- At the bottom of the search window, click ‘Create filter’
- A list of options will appear asking you which action you would like to take for these email addresses. Choose ‘Never sent it to Spam’ to make sure emails from our team always arrive in your inbox.
- Clicke ‘Create filter’ to save the filter
Further guidance about creating and managing Gmail filters can be found here.
If you have any trouble completing our referral form or the client does not hear back from our team within a week, please call us on 0118 921 7640.
